Gateway configuration method and gateway device

ABSTRACT

Gateway configuration methods and devices that resolve problems of a relatively heavy configuration workload, update inflexibility, and low configuration efficiency that exist when an operation and maintenance (OM) entity is used to uniformly configure gateways in an LTE system. The method includes: configuring, by a control plane gateway, a parameter for a user plane gateway, and sending, by the control plane gateway, a configuration message to the user plane gateway, where the configuration message carries the configuration parameter configured by the control plane gateway for the user plane gateway. The control plane gateway configures the parameter for the user plane gateway, so that the control plane gateway implements configuration of the user plane gateway, and configuration flexibility and configuration efficiency are improved.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of International Application No.PCT/CN2015/093467, filed on Oct. 30, 2015, the disclosure of which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to the field of wireless communicationstechnologies, and in particular, to a gateway configuration method and agateway device.

BACKGROUND

In a core network architecture of a long term evolution (LTE) network, agateway is responsible for processing a user plane packet. A servinggateway (SGW) is mainly responsible for packet processing functions suchas data packet routing and forwarding, and further responsible for acontrol function such as mobility management of user equipment between3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and non-3GPP. A packet datanetwork gateway (PGW) is responsible for management of data routingbetween 3GPP and non-3GPP, and a packet processing function such asdynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) packet processing, andfurther responsible for control functions such as policy configurationand charging. The SGW and the PGW may be jointly deployed, or may beseparately deployed.

Currently, a hardware upgrade or software upgrade manner is used, and anoperation and maintenance (OM) entity of an operator uniformlyconfigures parameters for the SGW and the PGW. In this configurationmanner, the OM entity has a heavy configuration workload, especially ina scenario in which a quantity of gateways is greatly increased, forexample, the quantity is increased by dozens of times. In addition,during configuration update, the OM entity also needs to uniformlyperform configuration update for the SGW and the PGW. Consequently,there is a heavy configuration update workload, and configuration isinflexible.

Therefore, in the manner in which the OM entity is used to uniformlyconfigure gateways, a configuration workload is relatively heavy, updateis inflexible, and configuration efficiency is low.

SUMMARY

This application provides a gateway configuration method and a gatewaydevice, so as to resolve problems of a relatively heavy configurationworkload, update inflexibility, and low configuration efficiency thatexist when an OM entity is used to uniformly configure gateways in anLTE system.

According to a first aspect, a control plane gateway is provided, wherethe control plane gateway is configured to manage a user plane gateway,and the control plane gateway includes:

a configuration module, configured to configure a parameter for the userplane gateway; and

a transceiver module, configured to send a configuration message to theuser plane gateway, where the configuration message carries theconfiguration parameter configured by the configuration module for theuser plane gateway.

In a possible implementation, the configuration parameter includes atleast one of the following:

an identifier of the control plane gateway, an identifier of at leastone communication link configured by the control plane gateway for theuser plane gateway, a bandwidth capability corresponding to acommunication link, an Internet Protocol (IP) address pool of userequipment served by the user plane gateway, a packet classificationrule, a bandwidth management rule, or a congestion management rule.

In a possible implementation, the configuration module is furtherconfigured to:

configure the parameter for the user plane gateway after the transceivermodule receives a configuration request message sent by the user planegateway, where the configuration request message is used to request thecontrol plane gateway to configure the parameter for the user planegateway; or

configure the parameter for the user plane gateway after the transceivermodule receives a service request message sent by the user equipment,where the user plane gateway is a serving user plane gateway of the userequipment; or

configure the parameter for the user plane gateway if load of any userplane gateway managed by the control plane gateway is greater than aspecified threshold, where the user plane gateway is the any user planegateway.

In a possible implementation, if the user equipment is located outside aservice range of the user plane gateway configured by the control planegateway for the user equipment, the configuration module is furtherconfigured to: reselect a user plane gateway for the user equipment asthe serving user plane gateway of the user equipment, and configure aparameter for the reselected user plane gateway.

In a possible implementation, the configuration request message carriesinformation about the user plane gateway, the information about the userplane gateway includes status information and/or capability informationof the user plane gateway, and the configuration module is specificallyconfigured to configure the parameter for the user plane gatewayaccording to the information about the user plane gateway.

In a possible implementation, the status information includes at leastone of an identifier of the user plane gateway or a location of the userplane gateway; and

the capability information includes at least one of the following: loadinformation or service type information, where the load information isused to indicate a load status of the user plane gateway, and theservice type information is used to indicate a service type supported bythe user plane gateway.

In a possible implementation, the configuration request message includesat least one object, and the object in the configuration request messageincludes at least one piece of information in the information about theuser plane gateway.

In a possible implementation, the configuration message includes atleast one object, each object in the configuration message includes atleast one parameter in the configuration parameter and at least one atomaction, and the at least one atom action is used to indicate anoperation performed on a packet that matches the at least one parameter.

In a possible implementation, the configuration module is furtherconfigured to determine the at least one atom action according to apolicy and charging control (PCC) rule.

Based on any one of the foregoing implementations, in a possibleimplementation, the configuration module is further configured to:

after the transceiver module receives a first update request sent by theuser plane gateway, update stored information about the user planegateway, where the first update request carries the information aboutthe user plane gateway, and the information about the user plane gatewayincludes the status information and/or the capability information; or

after the transceiver module receives service information sent by aserver, update stored information about the user plane gateway accordingto the service information, and control the transceiver module to send asecond update request to the user plane gateway, where the second updaterequest carries the information about the user plane gateway, and theinformation about the user plane gateway includes the status informationand/or the capability information.

In a possible implementation, the first update request includes at leastone object, and the object in the first update request includes at leastone piece of information about the user plane gateway; and

the second update request includes at least one object, each object inthe second update request includes at least one piece of information inthe information about the user plane gateway and at least one atomaction, and the at least one atom action is used to indicate anoperation performed on a packet that matches the at least one piece ofinformation.

In a possible implementation, after updating the stored informationabout the user plane gateway, the configuration module is furtherconfigured to: reconfigure a parameter for the user plane gateway; andcontrol the transceiver module to send a first update response to theuser plane gateway, where

the first update response includes at least one object, each object inthe first update response includes at least one of the configurationparameter and at least one atom action, and the at least one atom actionis used to indicate an operation performed on a packet that matches theconfiguration parameter included in the object.

Based on any one of the foregoing implementations, in a possibleimplementation, the configuration module is further configured to:

after the transceiver module receives a first release request sent bythe user plane gateway, release some or all services of the user planegateway according to the first release request, and control thetransceiver module to return a first release response to the user planegateway, where the first release response is used to indicate that thecontrol plane gateway completes release of the some or all services ofthe user plane gateway; or

the transceiver module is further configured to: send, under the controlof the configuration module, a second release request to the user planegateway, and receive a second release response returned by the userplane gateway, where the second release request is used to instruct theuser plane gateway to release some or all services, and the secondrelease response is used to indicate that the user plane gatewaycompletes release of the some or all services of the user plane gateway.

In a possible implementation, the first release request includes arelease parameter of the user plane gateway, an identifier used toindicate a release parameter of the user plane gateway, or an objectcorresponding to a release parameter of the user plane gateway; and thesecond release request includes a release parameter of the user planegateway, an identifier used to indicate a release parameter of the userplane gateway, or an object corresponding to a release parameter of theuser plane gateway.

According to a second aspect, a user plane gateway is provided, wherethe user plane gateway is managed by a control plane gateway, and theuser plane gateway includes:

a transceiver module, configured to receive a configuration message sentby the control plane gateway, where the configuration message carries aconfiguration parameter configured by the control plane gateway for theuser plane gateway; and

a processing module, configured to store the configuration parameterreceived by the transceiver module.

For details of the configuration parameter and the configurationmessage, refer to related description in the first aspect.

In a possible implementation, the processing module is furtherconfigured to control the transceiver module to send a configurationrequest message to the control plane gateway, where the configurationrequest message is used to request the control plane gateway toconfigure the parameter for the user plane gateway.

For details of the configuration request message, refer to relateddescription in the first aspect.

Based on any one of the foregoing implementations, in a possibleimplementation, the processing module is further configured to:

control the transceiver module to send a first update request to thecontrol plane gateway, where the first update request carriesinformation about the user plane gateway, and the information about theuser plane gateway includes status information and/or capabilityinformation; or

after the transceiver module receives a second update request sent bythe control plane gateway, update stored information about the userplane gateway according to information carried in the second updaterequest, where the second update request carries information about theuser plane gateway, and the information about the user plane gatewayincludes status information and/or capability information.

The first update request and the second update request are the same asthose in the first aspect, and for details, refer to related descriptionin the first aspect.

In a possible implementation, the transceiver module is furtherconfigured to receive a first update response sent by the control planegateway, where the first update response includes at least one object,each object in the first update response includes at least one of theconfiguration parameter and at least one atom action, and the at leastone atom action is used to indicate an operation performed on a packetthat matches the configuration parameter included in the object.

In a possible implementation, the processing module is furtherconfigured to control the transceiver module to send a first releaserequest to the control plane gateway, and the transceiver module isfurther configured to receive a first release response returned by thecontrol plane gateway, where the first release request is used torequest the control plane gateway to release some or all services of theuser plane gateway, and the first release response is used to indicatethat the control plane gateway completes release of the some or allservices of the user plane gateway; or

the processing module is further configured to: after the transceivermodule receives a second release request sent by the control planegateway, release some or all services of the user plane gatewayaccording to the second release request, and control the transceivermodule to return a second release response to the control plane gateway,where the second release response is used to indicate that the userplane gateway completes release of the some or all services of the userplane gateway.

The first release request and the second release request are the same asthose in the first aspect, and for details, refer to related descriptionin the first aspect.

According to a third aspect, a gateway configuration method is provided,where the method is applied to a communications system, thecommunications system includes a control plane gateway and a user planegateway, the control plane gateway is configured to manage the userplane gateway, and the method includes:

configuring, by the control plane gateway, a parameter for the userplane gateway; and

sending, by the control plane gateway, a configuration message to theuser plane gateway, where the configuration message carries theconfiguration parameter configured by the control plane gateway for theuser plane gateway.

For details of the configuration parameter, refer to related descriptionin the first aspect.

In a possible implementation, the configuring, by the control planegateway, a parameter for the user plane gateway includes:

configuring, by the control plane gateway, the parameter for the userplane gateway after receiving a configuration request message sent bythe user plane gateway, where the configuration request message is usedto request the control plane gateway to configure the parameter for theuser plane gateway; or

configuring, by the control plane gateway, the parameter for the userplane gateway after receiving a service request message sent by userequipment, where the user plane gateway is a serving user plane gatewayof the user equipment; or

configuring, by the control plane gateway, the parameter for the userplane gateway if load of any user plane gateway managed by the controlplane gateway is greater than a specified threshold, where the userplane gateway is the any user plane gateway.

In a possible implementation, the method further includes: if the userequipment is located outside a service range of the user plane gatewayconfigured by the control plane gateway for the user equipment,reselecting, by the control plane gateway, a user plane gateway for theuser equipment as the serving user plane gateway of the user equipment,and configuring a parameter for the reselected user plane gateway.

In a possible implementation, the configuration request message carriesinformation about the user plane gateway, and the information about theuser plane gateway includes status information and/or capabilityinformation of the user plane gateway; and

the configuring, by the control plane gateway, a parameter for the userplane gateway includes: configuring, by the control plane gateway, theparameter for the user plane gateway according to the information aboutthe user plane gateway.

For details of the configuration request message, refer to relateddescription in the first aspect.

In a possible implementation, the control plane gateway determines atleast one atom action according to a PCC rule.

In a possible implementation, after the sending, by the control planegateway, a configuration message to the user plane gateway, the methodfurther includes:

receiving, by the control plane gateway, a first update request sent bythe user plane gateway, and updating stored information about the userplane gateway, where the first update request carries the informationabout the user plane gateway, and the information about the user planegateway includes the status information and/or the capabilityinformation; or

receiving, by the control plane gateway, service information sent by aserver, updating stored information about the user plane gatewayaccording to the service information, and sending a second updaterequest to the user plane gateway, where the second update requestcarries the information about the user plane gateway, and theinformation about the user plane gateway includes the status informationand/or the capability information.

For details of the first update request and the second update request,refer to related description in the first aspect.

In a possible implementation, after the receiving, by the control planegateway, a first update request sent by the user plane gateway, andupdating stored information about the user plane gateway, the methodfurther includes:

reconfiguring, by the control plane gateway, a parameter for the userplane gateway; and

sending, by the control plane gateway, a first update response to theuser plane gateway, where

the first update response includes at least one object, each object inthe first update response includes at least one of the configurationparameter and at least one atom action, and the at least one atom actionis used to indicate an operation performed on a packet that matches theconfiguration parameter included in the object.

Based on any one of the foregoing implementations, in a possibleimplementation, after the sending, by the control plane gateway, aconfiguration message to the user plane gateway, the method furtherincludes:

receiving, by the control plane gateway, a first release request sent bythe user plane gateway, releasing some or all services of the user planegateway according to the first release request, and returning a firstrelease response to the user plane gateway, where the first releaseresponse is used to indicate that the control plane gateway completesrelease of the some or all services of the user plane gateway; or

sending, by the control plane gateway, a second release request to theuser plane gateway, and receiving a second release response returned bythe user plane gateway, where the second release request is used toinstruct the user plane gateway to release some or all services, and thesecond release response is used to indicate that the user plane gatewaycompletes release of the some or all services of the user plane gateway.

For details of the first release request and the second release request,refer to related description in the first aspect.

According to a fourth aspect, a gateway configuration method isprovided, where the method is applied to a communications system, thecommunications system includes a control plane gateway and a user planegateway, the control plane gateway is configured to manage the userplane gateway, and the method includes:

receiving, by the user plane gateway, a configuration message sent bythe control plane gateway, where the configuration message carries aconfiguration parameter configured by the control plane gateway for theuser plane gateway; and

storing, by the user plane gateway, the configuration parameter.

For details of the configuration parameter and the configurationmessage, refer to related description in the first aspect.

In a possible implementation, before the receiving, by the user planegateway, a configuration message sent by the control plane gateway, themethod further includes:

sending, by the user plane gateway, a configuration request message tothe control plane gateway, where the configuration request message isused to request the control plane gateway to configure the parameter forthe user plane gateway.

For details of the configuration request message, refer to relateddescription in the first aspect.

In a possible implementation, after the receiving, by the user planegateway, a configuration message sent by the control plane gateway, themethod further includes:

sending, by the user plane gateway, a first update request to thecontrol plane gateway, where the first update request carriesinformation about the user plane gateway, and the information about theuser plane gateway includes status information and/or capabilityinformation; or

receiving, by the user plane gateway, a second update request sent bythe control plane gateway, and updating stored information about theuser plane gateway according to information carried in the second updaterequest, where the second update request carries information about theuser plane gateway, and the information about the user plane gatewayincludes status information and/or capability information.

For details of the first update request and the second update request,refer to related description in the first aspect.

In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

receiving, by the user plane gateway, a first update response sent bythe control plane gateway, where the first update response includes atleast one object, each object in the first update response includes atleast one of the configuration parameter and at least one atom action,and the at least one atom action is used to indicate an operationperformed on a packet that matches the configuration parameter includedin the object.

In a possible implementation, after the receiving, by the user planegateway, a configuration message sent by the control plane gateway, themethod further includes:

sending, by the user plane gateway, a first release request to thecontrol plane gateway, and receiving a first release response returnedby the control plane gateway, where the first release request is used torequest the control plane gateway to release some or all services of theuser plane gateway, and the first release response is used to indicatethat the control plane gateway completes release of the some or allservices of the user plane gateway; or

receiving, by the user plane gateway, a second release request sent bythe control plane gateway, releasing some or all services of the userplane gateway according to the second release request, and returning asecond release response to the control plane gateway, where the secondrelease response is used to indicate that the user plane gatewaycompletes release of the some or all services of the user plane gateway.

For details of the first release request and the second release request,refer to related description in the first aspect.

According to a fifth aspect, a control plane gateway is provided, wherethe control plane gateway is configured to manage a user plane gateway,and the control plane gateway includes:

a processor, configured to read a program in a memory, to implement afunction of the configuration module in the first aspect, where fordetails, refer to related description of the configuration module in thefirst aspect; and

a communications interface, configured to implement, under the controlof the processor, a function of the transceiver module in the firstaspect, where for details, refer to related description of thetransceiver module in the first aspect.

According to a sixth aspect, a user plane gateway is provided, where theuser plane gateway is managed by a control plane gateway, and the userplane gateway includes:

a processor, configured to read a program in a memory, to implement afunction of the processing module in the second aspect, where fordetails, refer to related description of the processing module in thesecond aspect; and

a communications interface, configured to implement, under the controlof the processor, a function of the transceiver module in the secondaspect, where for details, refer to related description of thetransceiver module in the second aspect.

According to the method and the gateway device provided in thisapplication, the control plane gateway configures the parameter for theuser plane gateway, so that the control plane gateway implementsconfiguration of the user plane gateway, and configuration flexibilityand configuration efficiency are improved. Because the control planegateway configures the parameter for the user plane gateway, in ascenario in which user plane gateways are deployed in a distributedmanner, even if a quantity of user plane gateways is greatly increased,no large impact is caused on an OM system, and the OM system isprevented from configuring a large amount of service data for each userplane gateway.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture in which acontrol plane and a user plane of a gateway are separated according toan embodiment of this application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a connection between a control planegateway and a user plane gateway according to an embodiment of thisapplication;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a gateway configuration methodaccording to an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of another gateway configuration methodaccording to an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic interaction diagram of Embodiment 1 according toan embodiment of this application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic interaction diagram of Embodiment 2 according toan embodiment of this application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic interaction diagram of Embodiment 3 according toan embodiment of this application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a control plane gateway according to anembodiment of this application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a user plane gateway according to anembodiment of this application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of another control plane gatewayaccording to an embodiment of this application; and

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of another user plane gateway accordingto an embodiment of this application.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Technical solutions provided in this application are applied to adistributed gateway (DGW) architecture. In the distributed gatewayarchitecture evolved from an LTE network architecture, functions of aconventional gateway (that is, an SGW and a PGW), for example, a controlfunction and a packet processing function, are split into twoindependent network elements, that is, a control plane gateway (GW-C)and a user plane gateway (GW-U).

The control plane gateway inherits the control function and logic of theconventional gateway, and is configured to implement functions such assession management and/or data path configuration. The data pathconfiguration function is used to configure a data path for UE. The datapath may be a connection or a tunnel that is between a radio accessnetwork (RAN) and the GW-U or between the GW-U and another gateway andthat is used to forward data of the UE, for example, a General PacketRadio Service (GPRS)_Tunneling Protocol (GTP) tunnel, a Generic RoutingEncapsulation (GRE) connection, or a service data flow. The data pathmay be of a bearer granularity, or may be of a service data flowgranularity.

The user plane gateway is configured to implement data or signalingforwarding on a network side and/or data path management, may be a puredata forwarding plane or has only simple control logic, and may furtherreport a stipulated event or an event that cannot be processed to thecontrol plane gateway, process a packet, and so on.

The GW-C may also be referred to as a gateway controller, a controlnode, or a control gateway. The GW-U may also be referred to as a packetdata forwarding gateway, a routing forwarding node, or a switch node.

In addition, the terms “system” and “network” may be usedinterchangeably in this specification. The term “and/or” hereindescribes only an association relationship for describing associatedobjects and represents that three relationships may exist. For example,A and/or B may represent the following three cases: Only A exists, bothA and B exist, and only B exists. In addition, the character “/” hereingenerally indicates an “or” relationship between the associated objects.

FIG. 1 provides a network architecture in which a control plane and auser plane of a gateway are separated. User equipment (UE) accesses awireless communications system shown in FIG. 1 using a radio accessnetwork. The radio access network is connected to a mobility managemententity (MME)/serving general packet radio service support node (SGSN),and is also connected to a GW-U. A GW-C is connected to the MME/SGSN,and may be configured to perform session management, IP addressassignment, and the like. The GW-U is configured to forward user data,forward user data from the radio access network to a packet data network(PDN), and forward user data from the PDN to the radio access network.

It should be noted that a deployment location of the control planegateway is still similar to that of a conventional gateway, but the userplane gateway is deployed closer to a user, to shorten a transmissiondelay of user data. The control plane gateway and the user plane gatewaymay be separately upgraded based on respective different requirements.Functions of another device in a conventional LTE network remainunchanged, and during interaction with the control plane gateway and theuser plane gateway, the another device is unaware of whether the controlplane gateway and the user plane gateway are gateways in a conventionalarchitecture or gateways in a DGW architecture. In comparison with theconventional gateway, the user plane gateway is deployed closer to auser, and consequently, a coverage area of the user plane gatewaybecomes smaller. Therefore, a quantity of deployed user plane gatewaysis increased. In this case, if a manner in which an OM entity uniformlyconfigures gateways in a conventional LTE system is still used, as shownin dashed-line connections {circle around (1)}, {circle around (2)}, and{circle around (3)} in FIG. 2, a workload of the system is greatlyincreased. This application provides a method in which the control planegateway implements configuration of the user plane gateway, as shown insolid-line connections {circle around (4)} and {circle around (5)} inFIG. 2. The control plane gateway configures a parameter for the userplane gateway, so that the control plane gateway implementsconfiguration of the user plane gateway. Therefore, the user planegateway can be flexibly configured, and a workload of a system isreduced.

The following further describes the embodiments of this application indetail with reference to drawings of this specification. It should beunderstood that the embodiments described herein are merely used todescribe and explain this application but are not intended to limit thisapplication.

An embodiment of this application provides a gateway configurationmethod. The method is applied in a communications system. Thecommunications system may include a control plane gateway and a userplane gateway. The control plane gateway is configured to manage theuser plane gateway. As shown in FIG. 3, the method may include thefollowing steps.

S31. The control plane gateway configures a parameter for the user planegateway.

The configuration parameter may include at least one of the following:an identifier of the control plane gateway, an identifier of at leastone communication link configured by the control plane gateway for theuser plane gateway, a bandwidth capability corresponding to acommunication link, an Internet Protocol (IP) address pool of UE servedby the user plane gateway, a packet classification rule, a bandwidthmanagement rule, or a congestion management rule.

S32. The control plane gateway sends a configuration message to the userplane gateway, where the configuration message carries the configurationparameter configured by the control plane gateway for the user planegateway.

In the solution that is provided in this embodiment and in which thecontrol plane gateway implements configuration of the user planegateway, the control plane gateway configures the parameter for the userplane gateway, so that the control plane gateway implementsconfiguration of the user plane gateway, and configuration flexibilityand configuration efficiency are improved. Because the control planegateway configures the parameter for the user plane gateway, in ascenario in which user plane gateways are deployed in a distributedmanner, even if a quantity of user plane gateways is greatly increased,no large impact is caused on an OM system, and the OM system isprevented from configuring a large amount of service data for each userplane gateway.

Optionally, in a first implementation scenario of the foregoingembodiment, the user plane gateway triggers gateway configuration instep S31, which includes:

configuring, by the control plane gateway, the parameter for the userplane gateway after receiving a configuration request message sent bythe user plane gateway, where the configuration request message is usedto request the control plane gateway to configure the parameter for theuser plane gateway.

The configuration request message may carry information about the userplane gateway. The information about the user plane gateway may includestatus information and/or capability information of the user planegateway.

The status information may specifically include at least one of anidentifier of the user plane gateway or a location of the user planegateway. The identifier of the user plane gateway may be an IP addressof the user plane gateway, and is not limited.

The capability information may specifically include at least one of thefollowing: load information or service type information. For example,the load information may be used to indicate a load status of the userplane gateway, for example, static capacity weight information. Theservice type information may be used to indicate a service typesupported by the user plane gateway, for example, a supported accesspoint name (APN).

Correspondingly, S31 includes that the control plane gateway configuresthe parameter for the user plane gateway according to the informationabout the user plane gateway.

Optionally, the configuration request message includes at least oneobject. The object in the configuration request message includes atleast one piece of information in the information about the user planegateway, that is, the information about the user plane gateway in theconfiguration request message is classified in an object manner. Aparameter of mobility management and/or session management is used as agranularity of an object. An object related to session management may bea user plane gateway controller object, an input interface object, anoutput interface object, an APN object, or the like. An object relatedto mobility management may be user plane gateway location information,for example, a tracking area identity (TAI).

For example, a device identity (ID) and an IP address of the user planegateway are used by the control plane gateway to create a user planegateway controller object, and the device ID and/or the IP addressare/is used as an attribute of the user plane gateway controller object.An interface identifier and a corresponding IP address of the user planegateway are used by the control plane gateway to create an inputinterface object, and the interface identifier and/or the IP addressare/is used as an attribute of the input interface object. Tracking area(TA) information reported by the user plane gateway is used as anattribute of the user plane gateway controller object. Static capacityweight information reported by the user plane gateway is used as anattribute of the user plane gateway controller object. The control planegateway creates an output interface object, and uses a device identityof the control plane gateway as the object. Table 1 shows an embodimentof the configuration request message (that is, S18 Setup Request) sentby the user plane gateway to the control plane gateway. This table ismerely intended to describe an embodiment of the configuration requestmessage, and is not intended to limit the configuration request messageto this embodiment.

TABLE 1 Message type = Configuration request message Operate type = NullObject = Input interface Attributes Attributes Report Report: Interfacename Interface IP address UE IP pool name/ID (optional) Operate Type =Null Object = Output interface Attributes Report: Interface name OperateType = Null Object = GW-U-Controller user plane gateway controllerAttributes Report: User plane gateway identifier (GW-U ID) Weight WeightSupported atom actions list version Supported tracking area (Support TA)Operate Type = Null Object = APN (access point name) Attributes Report:APN name

Information in the attribute information column in the table isinformation included in the object in the configuration request message.

In the foregoing implementation scenario, if the configuration requestmessage does not carry the information about the user plane gateway, thecontrol plane gateway configures general parameter information for theuser plane gateway, for example, an identifier of the control planegateway, an IP address pool of UE served by the user plane gateway, apacket classification rule, a bandwidth management rule, and acongestion management rule. The IP address pool of the UE served by theuser plane gateway, the packet classification rule, the bandwidthmanagement rule, and the congestion management rule may be randomlyallocated. If the configuration request message carries the informationabout the user plane gateway, the control plane gateway may configureparameter information for the user plane gateway based on theinformation about the user plane gateway. For example, the control planegateway configures, based on the information about the user planegateway, an identifier of at least one communication link, a bandwidthcapability corresponding to a communication link, an IP address pool ofUE served by the user plane gateway, a packet classification rule, abandwidth management rule, and a congestion management rule for the userplane gateway.

For example, according to location information of the user planegateway, such as cell information or tracking area information, thecontrol plane gateway configures an IP address pool of UE in an area inwhich the user plane gateway is located and/or other configurationinformation for the user plane gateway. For another example, accordingto the capability information of the user plane gateway, such asinformation about a served service type or access point nameinformation, the control plane gateway configures link information thatcan support the service and/or other configuration information for theuser plane gateway.

Optionally, after the control plane gateway receives the configurationrequest message sent by the user plane gateway, the method furtherincludes: storing, by the control plane gateway, the information aboutthe user plane gateway that is carried in the configuration requestmessage.

Optionally, that the control plane gateway stores, in an object manner,the information about the user plane gateway that is carried in theconfiguration request message is specifically:

generating, by the control plane gateway, at least one list according tothe information about the user plane gateway that is carried in theconfiguration request message, where the at least one list includes atleast one object, and the object in the at least one list includes theinformation about the user plane gateway and/or information about theuser plane gateway that is stored in the control plane gateway.

The information about the user plane gateway that is stored in thecontrol plane gateway may be configuration information that is directlyconfigured by another network device, for example, an operator, into thecontrol plane gateway, and the control plane gateway associates theconfiguration information with the user plane gateway managed by thecontrol plane gateway and stores the configuration information. Forexample, the configuration information directly configured by theoperator into the control plane gateway is that the operator configuresthat a user plane gateway that supports an APN 1 serves specific UE, andthe control plane gateway associates the information with theinformation about the user plane gateway that is stored in the controlplane gateway.

Optionally, in a second implementation scenario of the foregoingembodiment, a service triggers gateway configuration in step S31, whichincludes:

configuring, by the control plane gateway, the parameter for the userplane gateway after receiving a service request message sent by the userequipment, where the user plane gateway is a serving user plane gatewayof the user equipment.

The serving user plane gateway is specifically a user plane gateway thatprovides a service for the user equipment.

For example, the control plane gateway may configure parameterinformation for the user plane gateway based on a service initiated bythe user equipment, for example, configure a packet tunnel identifier, apacket classification rule, a bandwidth management rule, and acongestion management rule for the user plane gateway based on theservice initiated by the user equipment.

Optionally, before the parameter is configured for the user planegateway, the method further includes: determining the serving user planegateway of the user equipment in user plane gateways managed by thecontrol plane gateway.

Further, the method may further include:

if the user equipment is located outside a service range of the userplane gateway configured by the control plane gateway for the userequipment, reselecting, by the control plane gateway, a user planegateway for the user equipment as the serving user plane gateway of theuser equipment, and configuring a parameter for the reselected userplane gateway.

Optionally, in a third implementation scenario of the foregoingembodiment, gateway configuration in step S31 is triggered when load ofany user plane gateway is greater than a specified threshold, andincludes:

configuring, by the control plane gateway, the parameter for the userplane gateway if load of any user plane gateway managed by the controlplane gateway is greater than a specified threshold, where the userplane gateway is the any user plane gateway.

In this manner, if the load of the any user plane gateway managed by thecontrol plane gateway is greater than the specified threshold, thecontrol plane gateway transfers services of some user equipment servedby the user plane gateway to a user plane gateway whose load is lessthan or equal to the threshold and that can cover the user equipment,and configures parameters for the user plane gateway in which the someuser equipment is located before the services are transferred and theany user plane gateway in which the some user equipment is located afterthe services are transferred.

Optionally, based on the foregoing embodiment or any implementationscenario of the foregoing embodiment, in a fourth implementationscenario of the foregoing embodiment, the configuration message in stepS32 is implemented in a form of “object-list”. Details are as follows:

The configuration message may include at least one object, each objectin the configuration message includes at least one parameter in theconfiguration parameter and at least one atom action, and the at leastone atom action is used to indicate an operation performed on a packetthat matches the at least one parameter.

For example, Table 2 shows an embodiment of the configuration messagesent by the control plane gateway to the user plane gateway. This tableis merely intended to describe an embodiment of the configurationmessage, and is not intended to limit the configuration message to thisembodiment.

TABLE 2 Message type = Configuration message Operate type = ModifyObject = Input interface Attributes Attributes Set SET: UE IP Poolsection Classification rule (Dscp <-> Internal service level) Bandwidthmanagement rule (Dscp/ToS/ACL <-> PIR/PBS/CIR/CBS) Action Action SET:Packet match (destination IP address) Object match Object Match(source/destination address) << Link Object ID Classify Classify (matchtype: DSCP/ToS/ACL) (optional) Committed access rate CAR (optional) Sendto (Send To) Operate Type = Modify Object = Output interface AttributesSET: Congestion management/avoidance algorithm Bandwidth management rule(DSCP/ToS/ACL <-> PIR/PBS/CIR/CBS) Classification rule (Dscp <->Internal service level) Action SET: Shaping—Shaping Schedule—ScheduleMarking—Marking Operate Type = Modify Object = Link Attributes SET:Packet Match Type: port number, packet type, tunnel endpoint type GW-U-CobjID—Control plane gateway object identifier Output interfaceObjID—Output interface object identifier Action Match field -> LinkMatch field: Input -> Link 1. Send To (Output 1. Object Match (matchvalue type 1: interface ObjID); Access (Access) (local end tunnel label,match type); 2: Port number and packet type << Bearer ObjID or GW-U-CObjID 2. Send To; Operate Type = Modify Object = APN SET: AttributesUser profile group Bandwidth management rule list BWM Rule list Action

Information in the attribute information column in the table isinformation included in the object in the configuration message.

It should be noted that after receiving the configuration message, theuser plane gateway stores the object in the configuration message. Whena packet is subsequently processed, information in the packet may befirst obtained by means of parsing. For example, the packet carriesinterface information and service type information of the packet. Theinformation in the packet is matched with parameters in stored objects,and if matching succeeds (that is, the information in the packet is thesame as a parameter in a stored object), at least one atom actionincluded in the object is performed on the packet. For example, ashaping operation in Table 2 is performed, for example, a packet sendingrate is adjusted.

Optionally, before step S32, the method further includes:

determining, by the control plane gateway, the at least one atom actionaccording to a policy and charging control (PCC) rule.

For example, the control plane gateway obtains a PCC rule related to UE,a service, or an application, where the PCC rule includes a chargingrule of a packet, a quality of service (QoS) rule of a packet, or thelike; determines a parameter in the charging rule as an “object and/oratom action”; and configures the “object and/or atom action” into theuser plane gateway.

Certainly, in addition to the foregoing manner in which the at least oneatom action is determined according to the PCC rule, the at least oneatom action may be determined in another manner, for example, a tablesearching manner or a preset manner. Details are not described.

Optionally, based on the foregoing embodiment or any implementationscenario of the foregoing embodiment, in a fifth implementation scenarioof the foregoing embodiment, after step S32, the method furtherincludes:

receiving, by the control plane gateway, a first update request sent bythe user plane gateway, and updating stored information about the userplane gateway, where the first update request carries the informationabout the user plane gateway, and the information about the user planegateway includes the status information and/or the capabilityinformation; or

receiving, by the control plane gateway, service information sent by aserver, updating stored information about the user plane gatewayaccording to the service information, and sending a second updaterequest to the user plane gateway, where the second update requestcarries the information about the user plane gateway, and theinformation about the user plane gateway includes the status informationand/or the capability information.

For example, the control plane gateway may update the stored informationabout the user plane gateway based on the first update request sent bythe user plane gateway; or may independently initiate update of thestored information about the user plane gateway based on the serviceinformation sent by the server, and notify the user plane gateway of thesecond update request for update. The information about the user planegateway that is stored in the control plane gateway includes the statusinformation/capability information of the user plane gateway, theconfiguration parameter configured by the control plane gateway for theuser plane gateway, and the like.

The control plane gateway updates the stored information about the userplane gateway according to the service information sent by the server.For example, the service information sent by the server may be serviceinformation used to indicate that a new type of packet processing logic(a permutation and a combination of existing atom actions) is defined,or service information that carries a new bandwidth management rule. Thecontrol plane gateway determines a new “object and/or atom action” forthe new packet processing logic, and configures the new “object and/oratom action” into the user plane gateway. The control plane gatewaydetermines a new “object and/or atom action” for the new bandwidthmanagement rule, and configures the new “object and/or atom action” intothe user plane gateway.

Optionally, the first update request carries all information about theuser plane gateway, that is, the first update request carries updatedinformation and non-updated information about the user plane gateway.Alternatively, the first update request carries updated information inthe information about the user plane gateway.

For example, assuming that only the status information of the user planegateway is updated, the first update request may carry only updatedstatus information of the user plane gateway, or may carry allinformation about the user plane gateway, including all statusinformation and all capability information.

Optionally, the first update request includes at least one object, andthe object in the first update request includes at least one piece ofinformation about the user plane gateway.

Optionally, the second update request carries all information about theuser plane gateway, that is, all status information, all capabilityinformation, and all configuration parameters of the user plane gateway.Alternatively, the second update request carries updated information inthe information about the user plane gateway.

For example, assuming that the control plane gateway updates only thestatus information of the user plane gateway, the second update requestmay carry only updated status information of the user plane gateway, ormay carry all information about the user plane gateway, including allstatus information, all capability information, and all configurationparameters.

Optionally, the second update request includes at least one object, eachobject in the second update request includes at least one piece ofinformation in the information about the user plane gateway and at leastone atom action, and the at least one atom action is used to indicate anoperation performed on a packet that matches the at least one piece ofinformation.

Further, after the control plane gateway receives the first updaterequest sent by the user plane gateway, and updates the storedinformation about the user plane gateway, the method may furtherinclude:

reconfiguring, by the control plane gateway, a parameter for the userplane gateway; and

sending, by the control plane gateway, a first update response to theuser plane gateway.

The first update response includes at least one object, each object inthe first update response includes at least one of the reconfiguredconfiguration parameter and at least one atom action, and the at leastone atom action is used to indicate an operation performed on a packetthat matches the configuration parameter included in the object.

For example, the control plane gateway determines, according to updatedinformation about the user plane gateway, whether there is a need toreconfigure parameter information for the user plane gateway. Forexample, if the user plane gateway no longer supports a capability, thecontrol plane gateway may delete a communication link corresponding tothe capability, and may further reconfigure bandwidth capabilityinformation corresponding to a current communication link of the userplane gateway. If the user plane gateway supports a new capability, thecontrol plane gateway may configure a corresponding communication linkfor the capability and identification information of the communicationlink, and configure bandwidth capability information for the newlyconfigured communication link.

The first update response may carry no information. In this case, thefirst update response is used to notify the user plane gateway that thecontrol plane gateway completes information update. If the control planegateway does not reconfigure the parameter for the user plane gateway,the first update response may carry only identification information ofthe control plane gateway.

Optionally, based on the foregoing embodiment or any implementationscenario of the foregoing embodiment, in a sixth implementation scenarioof the foregoing embodiment, after step S32, the method furtherincludes:

receiving, by the control plane gateway, a first release request sent bythe user plane gateway, releasing some or all services of the user planegateway according to the first release request, and returning a firstrelease response to the user plane gateway, where the first releaseresponse is used to indicate that the control plane gateway completesrelease of the some or all services of the user plane gateway; or

sending, by the control plane gateway, a second release request to theuser plane gateway, and receiving a second release response returned bythe user plane gateway, where the second release request is used toinstruct the user plane gateway to release some or all services, and thesecond release response is used to indicate that the user plane gatewaycompletes release of the some or all services of the user plane gateway.

For example, the control plane gateway may determine, based on the firstrelease request sent by the user plane gateway, that there is a need torelease the some or all services of the user plane gateway, and releasethe some or all services; or may determine, based on a policy configuredby a server on the control plane gateway (for example, the some or allservices of the user plane gateway are released when a quantity ofservices carried on the user plane gateway is less than a specifiedthreshold), that there is a need to release the some or all services ofthe user plane gateway, release the some or all services, and notify theuser plane gateway of release of the some or all services using thesecond release request.

For example, when needing to disconnect some or all connections to thecontrol plane gateway because of a reason such as function disabling orrestart, the user plane gateway initiates the first release request tothe control plane gateway. After receiving the first release request,the control plane gateway deletes a stored configuration correspondingto the user plane gateway, including a communication link correspondingto a service that needs to be released, identification information ofthe communication link, bandwidth capability information of thecommunication link, and the like.

During implementation, the first release request may be a newly definedsignaling message, or may be carried in a message that carries a datapacket sent by the user plane gateway to the control plane gateway. Thesecond release request may be a newly defined signaling message, or maybe carried in a message that carries a data packet sent by the controlplane gateway to the user plane gateway.

Optionally, the first release request includes a release parameter ofthe user plane gateway, an identifier used to indicate a releaseparameter of the user plane gateway, or an object corresponding to arelease parameter of the user plane gateway.

Optionally, if the user plane gateway needs to release all the services,the first release request carries indication information used toindicate to the control plane gateway that the user plane gateway needsto disable all functions.

Optionally, the second release request includes a release parameter ofthe user plane gateway, an identifier used to indicate a releaseparameter of the user plane gateway, or an object corresponding to arelease parameter of the user plane gateway.

Optionally, if the control plane gateway determines that the user planegateway needs to release all the services, the second release requestcarries indication information used to indicate that the user planegateway needs to disable all functions.

Based on a same inventive concept, an embodiment of this applicationfurther provides a gateway configuration method. For content the same asthat of a control plane gateway side, refer to related description inthe embodiment shown in FIG. 3, and details are not described hereinagain. As shown in FIG. 4, the method includes the following steps.

S41. A user plane gateway receives a configuration message sent by acontrol plane gateway, where the configuration message carries aconfiguration parameter configured by the control plane gateway for theuser plane gateway.

For related description of the configuration parameter, refer to stepS31.

S42. The user plane gateway stores the configuration parameter.

In the method provided in this embodiment, the user plane gatewayreceives the parameter configured by the control plane gateway, so thatthe control plane gateway implements configuration of the user planegateway, and configuration flexibility and configuration efficiency areimproved. Because the control plane gateway configures the parameter forthe user plane gateway, in a scenario in which user plane gateways aredeployed in a distributed manner, even if a quantity of user planegateways is greatly increased, no large impact is caused on an OMsystem, and the OM system is prevented from configuring a large amountof service data for each user plane gateway.

Optionally, in a first implementation scenario of the foregoingembodiment, before step S41, the method further includes:

sending, by the user plane gateway, a configuration request message tothe control plane gateway, where the configuration request message isused to request the control plane gateway to configure the parameter forthe user plane gateway.

For details of related description of the configuration request message,refer to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, and details are not describedagain.

Optionally, in a second implementation scenario of the foregoingembodiment, after step S41, the method further includes:

sending, by the user plane gateway, a first update request to thecontrol plane gateway, where the first update request carriesinformation about the user plane gateway, and the information about theuser plane gateway includes status information and/or capabilityinformation; or

receiving, by the user plane gateway, a second update request sent bythe control plane gateway, and updating stored information about theuser plane gateway according to information carried in the second updaterequest, where the second update request carries information about theuser plane gateway, and the information about the user plane gatewayincludes status information and/or capability information.

For related description of the first update request and the informationabout the user plane gateway, refer to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3,and details are not described again.

Optionally, in a third implementation scenario of the foregoingembodiment, after step S42, the method further includes: receiving, bythe user plane gateway, a first update response sent by the controlplane gateway. The first update response includes at least one object,each object in the first update response includes at least one of thereconfigured configuration parameter and at least one atom action, andthe at least one atom action is used to indicate an operation performedon a packet that matches the configuration parameter included in theobject.

Optionally, in a fourth implementation scenario of the foregoingembodiment, after step S41, the method further includes:

sending, by the user plane gateway, a first release request to thecontrol plane gateway, and receiving a first release response returnedby the control plane gateway, where the first release request is used torequest the control plane gateway to release some or all services of theuser plane gateway, and the first release response is used to indicatethat the control plane gateway completes release of the some or allservices of the user plane gateway; or

receiving, by the user plane gateway, a second release request sent bythe control plane gateway, releasing some or all services of the userplane gateway according to the second release request, and returning asecond release response to the control plane gateway, where the secondrelease response is used to indicate that the user plane gatewaycompletes release of the some or all services of the user plane gateway.

It should be noted that for details of explanations of related nouns inthe embodiment shown in FIG. 4, refer to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3,and details are not described again.

The following describes gateway configuration methods provided in thisapplication with reference to three specific embodiments and from theperspective of interaction between a user plane gateway and a controlplane gateway.

In Embodiment 1, a gateway configuration method is shown in FIG. 5, andthe method includes:

51. A user plane gateway sends a configuration request message to acontrol plane gateway, where the configuration request message carriesstatus information and capability information of the user plane gateway,the status information includes an identifier, location information, andthe like of the user plane gateway, and the capability informationincludes a load status (for example, a static capacity weight) of theuser plane gateway, and a status of supporting different service types(for example, supporting which APN).

52. After receiving the configuration request message, the control planegateway creates a new item if no content item is previously created forthe user plane gateway, and stores the identifier of the user planegateway and information about the user plane gateway (the statusinformation and the capability information). The control plane gatewayconfigures a parameter for the user plane gateway, and sends aconfiguration message to the user plane gateway. The configurationmessage includes the configuration parameter configured by the controlplane gateway for the user plane gateway, for example, a device identityof the control plane gateway, and a link bandwidth capability of an Sxinterface.

In Embodiment 2, a gateway configuration method is shown in FIG. 6, andthe method includes:

61. A user plane gateway sends an update request to a control planegateway.

The update request may carry all status information and capabilityinformation of the user plane gateway. Alternatively, the update requestcarries only an updated part compared with previously sent information.For example, if location information is changed, but other informationremains unchanged, only latest location information needs to be sent tothe control plane gateway by using the update request message.

62. After receiving the update request, the control plane gateway findsan item that is previously created for the user plane gateway, andupdates, according to information carried in the update request, anidentifier of the user plane gateway and information about the userplane gateway (for example, the status information and the capabilityinformation) that are previously stored. After completing update, thecontrol plane gateway sends an update response to the user planegateway.

In Embodiment 3, a gateway configuration method is shown in FIG. 7, andthe method includes:

71. A user plane gateway sends a release request to a control planegateway, where the release request carries indication information usedto indicate release of all services.

72. After receiving the release request, the control plane gateway findsan item that is previously created for the user plane gateway, anddeletes the item or a part of the item. After completing deletion, thecontrol plane gateway sends a release response to the user planegateway, where the release response carries indication information usedto indicate that an Sx connection is successfully released.

for example, if all functions are released, the control plane gatewayreleases a connection to the user plane gateway, finds one (or more) newuser plane gateway(s), and transfers a service on this disabled userplane gateway. If some functions are released, other functions of thecontrol plane gateway and the user plane gateway can still work.

It should be pointed out that the method shown in FIG. 6 or FIG. 7 maybe executed based on the method shown in FIG. 5. In addition, forexplanations of steps and related nouns in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, refer toFIG. 3 or FIG. 4, and details are not described again.

Based on a same inventive concept, this application provides a controlplane gateway, configured to perform steps performed by the controlplane gateway in the foregoing method embodiments. For details, refer torelated description in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3. The control planegateway is configured to manage a user plane gateway. As shown in FIG.8, the control plane gateway includes:

a configuration module 81, configured to configure a parameter for theuser plane gateway; and

a transceiver module 82, configured to send a configuration message tothe user plane gateway, where the configuration message carries theconfiguration parameter configured by the configuration module 81 forthe user plane gateway.

Optionally, the configuration module 81 is configured to:

configure the parameter for the user plane gateway after the transceivermodule 82 receives a configuration request message sent by the userplane gateway, where the configuration request message is used torequest the control plane gateway to configure the parameter for theuser plane gateway; or

configure the parameter for the user plane gateway after the transceivermodule 82 receives a service request message sent by user equipment,where the user plane gateway is a serving user plane gateway of the userequipment; or

configure the parameter for the user plane gateway if load of any userplane gateway managed by the control plane gateway is greater than aspecified threshold, where the user plane gateway is the any user planegateway.

Optionally, the configuration module 81 is further configured to: if theuser equipment is located outside a service range of the user planegateway configured by the control plane gateway for the user equipment,reselect a user plane gateway for the user equipment as the serving userplane gateway of the user equipment, and configure a parameter for thereselected user plane gateway.

Optionally, the configuration request message carries information aboutthe user plane gateway. The information about the user plane gatewayincludes status information and/or capability information of the userplane gateway. The configuration module 81 is configured to configurethe parameter for the user plane gateway according to the informationabout the user plane gateway.

For the status information and the configuration request message, referto related description in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3.

Optionally, the configuration module 81 is further configured todetermine at least one atom action according to a PCC rule.

For related description of the atom action and an object, refer to theembodiment shown in FIG. 3.

Optionally, based on any one of the foregoing possible implementations,the configuration module 81 is further configured to:

after the transceiver module 82 receives a first update request sent bythe user plane gateway, update stored information about the user planegateway, where the first update request carries the information aboutthe user plane gateway, and the information about the user plane gatewayincludes the status information and/or the capability information; or

after the transceiver module 82 receives service information sent by aserver, update stored information about the user plane gateway accordingto the service information, and control the transceiver module 82 tosend a second update request to the user plane gateway, where the secondupdate request carries the information about the user plane gateway, andthe information about the user plane gateway includes the statusinformation and/or the capability information.

For the first update request and the second update request, refer torelated description in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3.

Further, after updating the stored information about the user planegateway, the configuration module 81 is further configured to:reconfigure a parameter for the user plane gateway, and control thetransceiver module 82 to send a first update response to the user planegateway. For the first update response, refer to description in theembodiment shown in FIG. 3.

Optionally, based on any one of the foregoing possible implementations,the configuration module 81 is further configured to: after thetransceiver module 82 receives a first release request sent by the userplane gateway, release some or all services of the user plane gatewayaccording to the first release request, and control the transceivermodule 82 to return a first release response to the user plane gateway.The first release response is used to indicate that the control planegateway completes release of the some or all services of the user planegateway.

Optionally, based on any one of the foregoing possible implementations,the transceiver module 82 is further configured to:

send, under the control of the configuration module 81, a second releaserequest to the user plane gateway, and receive a second release responsereturned by the user plane gateway. The second release request is usedto instruct the user plane gateway to release some or all services, andthe second release response is used to indicate that the user planegateway completes release of the some or all services of the user planegateway.

For the first release request and the second release request, refer todescription in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3.

Based on a same inventive concept, this application provides a userplane gateway, configured to perform steps performed by the user planegateway in the foregoing method embodiments. For details, refer torelated description in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4. Details are notdescribed herein again. The user plane gateway is managed by a controlplane gateway. As shown in FIG. 9, the user plane gateway includes:

a transceiver module 91, configured to receive a configuration messagesent by the control plane gateway, where the configuration messagecarries a configuration parameter configured by the control planegateway for the user plane gateway; and

a processing module 92, configured to store the configuration parameterreceived by the transceiver module 91.

For the configuration parameter and the configuration message, refer todescription in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3.

Optionally, the processing module 92 is further configured to controlthe transceiver module 91 to send a configuration request message to thecontrol plane gateway. The configuration request message is used torequest the control plane gateway to configure the parameter for theuser plane gateway. For the configuration request message, refer todescription in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3.

Optionally, the processing module 92 is further configured to controlthe transceiver module 91 to send a first update request to the controlplane gateway, where the first update request carries information aboutthe user plane gateway, and the information about the user plane gatewayincludes status information and/or capability information; or

the processing module 92 is further configured to: after the transceivermodule 91 receives a second update request sent by the control planegateway, update stored information about the user plane gatewayaccording to information carried in the second update request, where thesecond update request carries information about the user plane gateway,and the information about the user plane gateway includes statusinformation and/or capability information.

For the first update request and the second update request, refer todescription in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3.

Optionally, the transceiver module 91 is further configured to receive afirst update response sent by the control plane gateway. The firstupdate response includes at least one object, each object in the firstupdate response includes at least one of the reconfigured configurationparameter and at least one atom action, and the at least one atom actionis used to indicate an operation performed on a packet that matches theconfiguration parameter included in the object.

Optionally, based on any one of the foregoing implementations, theprocessing module 92 is further configured to control the transceivermodule 91 to send a first release request to the control plane gateway,and the transceiver module 91 is further configured to receive a firstrelease response returned by the control plane gateway, where the firstrelease request is used to request the control plane gateway to releasesome or all services of the user plane gateway, and the first releaseresponse is used to indicate that the control plane gateway completesrelease of the some or all services of the user plane gateway; or

the processing module 92 is further configured to: after the transceivermodule 91 receives a second release request sent by the control planegateway, release some or all services of the user plane gatewayaccording to the second release request, and control the transceivermodule to return a second release response to the control plane gateway,where the second release response is used to indicate that the userplane gateway completes release of the some or all services of the userplane gateway.

For the first release request and the second release request, refer todescription in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3.

Based on a same inventive concept, another control plane gatewayprovided in an embodiment may be configured to perform steps performedby the control plane gateway in the foregoing method embodiments. Asshown in FIG. 10, the another control plane gateway may include:

a processor 101, a memory 102, a communications interface 103, and asystem bus 104.

The processor 101 and the communications interface 103 are connected toeach other and communicate with each other using the system bus 104. Theprocessor 101 may be a central processing unit (CPU), anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or moreintegrated circuits configured to implement this embodiment of thisapplication.

The communications interface 103 is configured to interact, under thecontrol of the processor 101, with another communications device.

The memory 102 may store data used by the processor 101 when anoperation is performed.

When the control plane gateway runs, the processor 101 reads a programin the memory 102, to implement a function of the configuration module81 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 8. The communications interface 103implements, under the control of the processor 101, a function of thetransceiver module 82 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 8. For details,refer to related description in the embodiment shown in FIG. 8. Detailsare not described herein again.

Based on a same inventive concept, another user plane gateway providedin an embodiment may be configured to perform steps performed by theuser plane gateway in the foregoing method embodiments. As shown in FIG.11, the another user plane gateway includes:

a processor 111, a memory 112, a communications interface 113, and asystem bus 114.

The processor 111 and the communications interface 113 are connected toeach other and communicate with each other using the system bus 114. Theprocessor 111 may be a CPU, a specific ASIC, or one or more integratedcircuits configured to implement this embodiment of this application.

The communications interface 113 is configured to interact, under thecontrol of the processor 111, with another communications device.

The memory 112 may store data used by the processor 111 when theprocessor 111 performs an operation.

When the user plane gateway runs, the processor 111 reads a program inthe memory 112, to implement a function of the processing module 92 inthe embodiment shown in FIG. 9. The communications interface 113implements, under the control of the processor 111, a function of thetransceiver module 91 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 9. For details,refer to related description in the embodiment shown in FIG. 9. Detailsare not described herein again.

Persons skilled in the art should understand that the embodiments ofthis application may be provided as a method, a system, or a computerprogram product. Therefore, this application may use a form of hardwareonly embodiments, software only embodiments, or embodiments with acombination of software and hardware. Moreover, this application may usea form of a computer program product that is implemented on one or morecomputer-usable storage media (including but not limited to a diskmemory, a CD-ROM, an optical memory, and the like) that include computerusable program code.

This application is described with reference to the flowcharts and/orblock diagrams of the method, the device (system), and the computerprogram product according to the embodiments of this application. Itshould be understood that computer program instructions may be used toimplement each process and/or each block in the flowcharts and/or theblock diagrams and a combination of a process and/or a block in theflowcharts and/or the block diagrams. These computer programinstructions may be provided for a general-purpose computer, a dedicatedcomputer, an embedded processor, or a processor of any otherprogrammable data processing device to generate a machine, so that theinstructions executed by a computer or a processor of any otherprogrammable data processing device generate an apparatus forimplementing a specific function in one or more processes in theflowcharts and/or in one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

These computer program instructions may be stored in a computer readablememory that can instruct the computer or any other programmable dataprocessing device to work in a specific manner, so that the instructionsstored in the computer readable memory generate an artifact thatincludes an instruction apparatus. The instruction apparatus implementsa specific function in one or more processes in the flowcharts and/or inone or more blocks in the block diagrams.

These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a computer oranother programmable data processing device, so that a series ofoperations and steps are performed on the computer or the anotherprogrammable device, thereby generating computer-implemented processing.Therefore, the instructions executed on the computer or the anotherprogrammable device provide steps for implementing a specific functionin one or more processes in the flowcharts and/or in one or more blocksin the block diagrams.

Although some embodiments of this application have been described,persons skilled in the art can make changes and modifications to theseembodiments once they learn the basic inventive concept. Therefore, thefollowing claims are intended to be construed as to cover theembodiments and all changes and modifications falling within the scopeof this application.

Obviously, persons skilled in the art can make various modifications andvariations to this application without departing from the scope of thisapplication. This application is intended to cover these modificationsand variations of this application provided that they fall within thescope of protection defined by the following claims and their equivalenttechnologies.

What is claimed is:
 1. A control plane gateway, wherein the controlplane gateway is configured to manage a user plane gateway, and thecontrol plane gateway comprises: a processor, a memory, a communicationsinterface, and a system bus, wherein the processor and thecommunications interface are connected to each other and communicatewith each other using the system bus, and the processor executes aprogram in the memory to perform the steps: configuring a configurationparameter for the user plane gateway after the communications interfacereceives a configuration request message from the user plane gateway,wherein the configuration request message is used to request the controlplane gateway to configure the configuration parameter for the userplane gateway; and sending a configuration message to the user planegateway, wherein the configuration message carries the configurationparameter.
 2. The control plane gateway according to claim 1, whereinthe configuration parameter comprises at least one of the following: anidentifier of the control plane gateway, an identifier of at least onecommunication link configured by the control plane gateway for the userplane gateway, a bandwidth capability corresponding to a communicationlink, an Internet Protocol (IP) address pool of user equipment served bythe user plane gateway, a packet classification rule, a bandwidthmanagement rule, or a congestion management rule.
 3. The control planegateway according to claim 1, wherein the configuration request messagecarries information about the user plane gateway, the information aboutthe user plane gateway comprises status information and/or capabilityinformation of the user plane gateway, and the processor furtherexecutes the program to: configure the configuration parameter for theuser plane gateway according to the information about the user planegateway.
 4. A control plane gateway, wherein the control plane gatewayis configured to manage a user plane gateway, and the control planegateway comprises: a processor, a memory, a communications interface,and a system bus, wherein the processor and the communications interfaceare connected to each other and communicate with each other using thesystem bus, and the processor executes a program in the memory toperform the steps: configuring a configuration parameter for the userplane gateway; sending a configuration message to the user planegateway, wherein the configuration message carries the configurationparameter; and after the communications interface receives a firstupdate request from the user plane gateway, updating stored informationabout the user plane gateway, wherein the first update request carriesthe information about the user plane gateway, and the information aboutthe user plane gateway comprises the status information and/or thecapability information; or after the communications interface receivesservice information from a server, updating stored information about theuser plane gateway according to the service information, and control thecommunications interface to send a second update request to the userplane gateway, wherein the second update request carries the informationabout the user plane gateway, and the information about the user planegateway comprises the status information and/or the capabilityinformation.
 5. A user plane gateway, wherein the user plane gateway ismanaged by a control plane gateway, and the user plane gatewaycomprises: a processor, a memory, a communications interface, and asystem bus, wherein the processor and the communications interface areconnected to each other and communicate with each other using the systembus, and the processor executes a program in the memory to perform thesteps: receiving a configuration message from the control plane gateway,wherein the configuration message carries a configuration parameterconfigured by the control plane gateway for the user plane gateway; andstoring the configuration parameter received by the communicationsinterface; and controlling the communications interface to send aconfiguration request message to the control plane gateway, wherein theconfiguration request message is used to request the control planegateway to configure the configuration parameter for the user planegateway.
 6. The user plane gateway according to claim 5, wherein theconfiguration parameter comprises at least one of the following: anidentifier of the control plane gateway, an identifier of at least onecommunication link configured by the control plane gateway for the userplane gateway, a bandwidth capability corresponding to a communicationlink, an Internet Protocol (IP) address pool of user equipment served bythe user plane gateway, a packet classification rule, a bandwidthmanagement rule, or a congestion management rule.
 7. The user planegateway according to claim 5, wherein the configuration request messagecarries information about the user plane gateway, and the informationabout the user plane gateway comprises status information and/orcapability information.
 8. A user plane gateway, wherein the user planegateway is managed by a control plane gateway, and the user planegateway comprises: a processor, a memory, a communications interface,and a system bus, wherein the processor and the communications interfaceare connected to each other and communicate with each other using thesystem bus, and the processor executes a program in the memory toperform the steps: receiving a configuration message from the controlplane gateway, wherein the configuration message carries a configurationparameter configured by the control plane gateway for the user planegateway; and storing the configuration parameter received by thecommunications interface; and controlling the communications interfaceto send a first update request to the control plane gateway, wherein thefirst update request carries the information about the user planegateway, and the information about the user plane gateway comprises thestatus information and/or the capability information; or after thecommunications interface receives a second update request from thecontrol plane gateway, updating stored information about the user planegateway according to information carried in the second update request,wherein the second update request carries the information about the userplane gateway, and the information about the user plane gatewaycomprises the status information and/or the capability information.
 9. Agateway configuration method, wherein the method is applied in acommunications system, the communications system comprises a controlplane gateway and a user plane gateway, the control plane gateway isconfigured to manage the user plane gateway, and the method comprises:configuring, by the control plane gateway, a configuration parameter forthe user plane gateway after receiving a configuration request messagefrom the user plane gateway, wherein the configuration request messageis used to request the control plane gateway to configure theconfiguration parameter for the user plane gateway; and sending, by thecontrol plane gateway, a configuration message to the user planegateway, wherein the configuration message carries the configurationparameter.
 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein theconfiguration parameter comprises at least one of the following: anidentifier of the control plane gateway, an identifier of at least onecommunication link configured by the control plane gateway for the userplane gateway, a bandwidth capability corresponding to a communicationlink, an Internet Protocol (IP) address pool of user equipment served bythe user plane gateway, a packet classification rule, a bandwidthmanagement rule, or a congestion management rule.
 11. The methodaccording to claim 9, wherein after the sending, by the control planegateway, a configuration message to the user plane gateway, the methodfurther comprises: receiving, by the control plane gateway, a firstupdate request from the user plane gateway, and updating storedinformation about the user plane gateway, wherein the first updaterequest carries the information about the user plane gateway, and theinformation about the user plane gateway comprises the statusinformation and/or the capability information; or receiving, by thecontrol plane gateway, service information from a server, updatingstored information about the user plane gateway according to the serviceinformation, and sending a second update request to the user planegateway, wherein the second update request carries the information aboutthe user plane gateway, and the information about the user plane gatewaycomprises the status information and/or the capability information. 12.A gateway configuration method, wherein the method is applied in acommunications system, the communications system comprises a controlplane gateway and a user plane gateway, the control plane gateway isconfigured to manage the user plane gateway, and the method comprises:receiving, by the user plane gateway, a configuration message from thecontrol plane gateway, wherein the configuration message carries aconfiguration parameter configured by the control plane gateway for theuser plane gateway; and storing, by the user plane gateway, theconfiguration parameter; wherein before the receiving, by the user planegateway, the configuration message from the control plane gateway, themethod further comprises: sending, by the user plane gateway, aconfiguration request message to the control plane gateway, wherein theconfiguration request message is used to request the control planegateway to configure the configuration parameter for the user planegateway.
 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the configurationparameter comprises at least one of the following: an identifier of thecontrol plane gateway, an identifier of at least one communication linkconfigured by the control plane gateway for the user plane gateway, abandwidth capability corresponding to a communication link, an InternetProtocol IP address pool of user equipment served by the user planegateway, a packet classification rule, a bandwidth management rule, or acongestion management rule.
 14. A gateway configuration method, whereinthe method is applied in a communications system, the communicationssystem comprises a control plane gateway and a user plane gateway, thecontrol plane gateway is configured to manage the user plane gateway,and the method comprises: receiving, by the user plane gateway, aconfiguration message from the control plane gateway, wherein theconfiguration message carries a configuration parameter configured bythe control plane gateway for the user plane gateway; and storing, bythe user plane gateway, the configuration parameter wherein after thereceiving, by the user plane gateway, the configuration message from thecontrol plane gateway, the method further comprises: sending, by theuser plane gateway, a first update request to the control plane gateway,wherein the first update request carries the information about the userplane gateway, and the information about the user plane gatewaycomprises the status information and/or the capability information; orreceiving, by the user plane gateway, a second update request from thecontrol plane gateway, and updating stored information about the userplane gateway according to information carried in the second updaterequest, wherein the second update request carries the information aboutthe user plane gateway, and the information about the user plane gatewaycomprises the status information and/or the capability information. 15.The method according to claim 14, wherein the method further comprises:receiving, by the user plane gateway, a first update response from thecontrol plane gateway, wherein the first update response comprises atleast one object, each object in the first update response comprises atleast one of the configuration parameter and at least one atom action,and the at least one atom action is used to indicate an operationperformed on a packet that matches the configuration parameter comprisedin the object.
 16. A gateway configuration method, wherein the method isapplied in a communications system, the communications system comprisesa control plane gateway and a user plane gateway, the control planegateway is configured to manage the user plane gateway, and the methodcomprises: receiving, by the user plane gateway, a configuration messagefrom the control plane gateway, wherein the configuration messagecarries a configuration parameter configured by the control planegateway for the user plane gateway; and storing, by the user planegateway, the configuration parameter wherein after the receiving, by theuser plane gateway, the configuration message sent by the control planegateway, the method further comprises: sending, by the user planegateway, a first release request to the control plane gateway, andreceiving a first release response returned by the control planegateway, wherein the first release request is used to request thecontrol plane gateway to release some or all services of the user planegateway, and the first release response is used to indicate that thecontrol plane gateway completes release of the some or all services ofthe user plane gateway; or receiving, by the user plane gateway, asecond release request from the control plane gateway, releasing some orall services of the user plane gateway according to the second releaserequest, and returning a second release response to the control planegateway, wherein the second release response is used to indicate thatthe user plane gateway completes release of the some or all services ofthe user plane gateway.